AN/AAQ-24 Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM)

Northrop Grumman's AN/AAQ-24 (V) NEMESIS system is currently in use by the military in both the United States and the United Kingdom. When NEMESIS detects a missile launch, it determines if it is a threat, warns the aircrew and activates its high-power, countermeasure system to track and defeat the threat. Proven against 35 missiles in totally autonomous live fire tests, the system is in production, and is being installed on a wide array of front-line aircraft.

The loser in the original ATIRCM competition, DIRCM, has not gained as much from ATIRCM's troubles as it might have, but it has firmed up as a solid competitor. DIRCM's design initially mounts a directed IR xenon arc lamp, with a laser system planned as a retrofit, while ATIRCM will not be produced until the laser is ready. Advanced configurations -- incorporating a two-color missile warning sensor and laser-based transmitters -- offer lightweight, low drag, high performance options for specific missions.

The AN/AAQ-24(V) NEMESIS system protects large fixed-wing transports and small rotary-wing aircraft from the infrared missile threat by automatically detecting a missile launch, determining if it is a threat and activating a high-intensity countermeasure system to track and defeat the threat. In 1999, USSOCOM awarded Northrop Grumman a contract modification to produce and install DIRCM systems on 59 Special Operations C-130 aircraft.

The AN/AAQ-24 Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) program is one of the US Special Operations Command's (USSOCOM's) highest priority acquisition programs. This urgently needed aircraft self-protection suite will provide fast and accurate threat detection, processing, tracking, and countermeasures to defeat current and future generation infrared missile threats. DIRCM is designed for installation on a wide range of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. For USSOCOM, the system will be installed on all of Air Force Special Operations Command's (AFSOCS's) AC-130 gunships
and MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft.

Growth to counter more sophisticated threats is incorporated into the program
by providing a path that allows for direct insertion of a laser-based countermeasure
when an all-band laser is developed. These capabilities made the DIRCM system, and
others like it, strong candidates during USSOCOM's initial evaluation of the
options available.

After careful consideration of the alternatives, USSOCOM initiated the DIRCM
program as a cooperative acquisition with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence
(U.K. MoD) under Section 27 of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) ("Quayle"
Authority). Section 27 of the AECA authorizes the Department of Defense (DoD)
to enter into cooperative projects with allies and friendly countries for cooperative
research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) or joint production (including
follow-on support) of defense articles, concurrent production of a defense article
that was jointly developed by the United States and allied or friendly countries, or
U.S. procurement of a defense article or service from an allied or friendly country.

Given the program's urgency and a strong desire on the part of the participants to establish a firm foundation for the program's success, both staffs felt the best
means to keep the negotiations on track was to leave out politically charged items
such as cost and work share arrangements. Within the framework of the "Quayle"
Authority, the DIRCM MOU allows the U.K. MoD to competitively award a contract
on behalf of USSOCOM. The U.K. MoD owns and manages the contract with
the DIRCM prime contractor, Northrop Grumman Electronics and Systems Integration International, Inc., (NGESII) Rolling Meadows, IL.

The DIRCM program is unusual in that it is one of the first cooperative development and production projects undertaken by a U.S. agency wherein the allied country owns the contract with industry. In addition, it may be the first program where the U.K. MoD has led a collaborative procurement with the United States in which the prime contractor is one of the major U.S. defense contractors. Total U.S. programmatic cost savings, documented in the program's 1996 David Packard Acquisition Excellence Award narrative, amount to $80 million.

The U.K. MoD owns and manages the DIRCM contract, currently valued at over $400 million for joint U.K./ USSOCOM content as well as United Kingdom- and USSOCOM-unique requirements. The contract is to develop, produce, install, field, and sustain approximately 131 DIRCM systems on the U.K. fixed- and rotary-wing fleet and 59 systems on the AFSOC AC/MC-130 fleet. The fixed-price (FP) basic contract, awarded
under a total systems performance responsibility (TSPR) philosophy, is for the joint
engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) phase and U.K. production and sustainment phases, and includes priced options for USSOCOM's production and sustainment phases. The MOU to enter into a cooperative program between the United States and the United Kingdom was signed in June 1994 and the EMD contract with Northrop Grumman was signed in March 1995.

The DIRCM program manager is a U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) civilian.
There are U.S. and U.K. joint program offices (JPOs), with each office headed by
a deputy joint program manager (DJPM). The USSOCOM JPO at MacDill Air Force Base, FL, is staffed by a handful of military and civilian managers, augmented by a team of contractor technical support personnel. The MoD JPO in Bristol, England, is staffed by several full-time U.K. civil servant managers and one USSOCOM civil servant, augmented by off-site specialized engineering support.